History of Butlins | Our Beliefs and Colourful Story | Butlins YouTube The Butlin's Story We have a history that scans back 80 years. Take a look at how Butlin’s history unfolds and explore how Billy Butlin started his career as a travelling showman, progressed into holiday camps and grew his business into the iconic brand that it is today. Oh, what delightful times we’ve had! 1930s • Skegness opened on 11 April 1936 and within a year it had doubled in size; it was officially opened by Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Two years later Billy Butlin's chose Clacton-on-Sea for his second camp. 1940s • To help with the war efforts, Billy’s existing camps were given over to the government. Clacton became an Army camp and Skegness became HMS Royal Arthur. Billy was already building a new resort at Filey but was asked to finish it so that it could be used by the military too, and he was also asked to locate and build another two camps at Ayr and Pwllheli, both of which he bought back at the end of the war.

1950s • Indoor heated pools designed to be used ‘whatever the weather’ opened at Ayr, Clacton, Pwllheli and Skegness. And after holidaying in the Caribbean, Billy sees a gap in the market and opens Butlin's Bahamas! 1960s • A further three resorts opened, at Bognor Regis (1960), Minehead (1962) and Barry Island (1966). The 1960s also saw the famous monorails brought to Skegness and Minehead, and other new innovations being opened on the camps including chairlifts, a pool with underwater viewing windows and revolving bars! 1970s • As people fell in love with holidaying abroad, the specialness of the British seaside became lost and the idea of ‘holiday camps’ faded. The Butlin family sold the business to the Rank Organisation. 1980s • 1980, a very sad start to the year for Butlin's as Billy passes away. His funeral precession is lined with Redcoats. In 1986 new Water Worlds are built at the remaining resorts.

Then in 1989 our Redcoats receive a new uniform designed by Zandra Rhodes. 1990s • The new owners tried to reverse the downturn by building new accommodation and entertainment venues but sadly Mosney, Filey, Clacton and Barry Island all had to be sold, and Ayr and Pwllheli were transferred to Haven. 1999 saw the magnificent and renowned Skyline Pavilions built across all three resorts to cater for the unpredictable Great British weather. 2000s • The new millennium saw Butlin's bought by Bourne Leisure Holdings. In 2003, our beloved Billy Bear character made his debut, and a year later The Spa in Skegness opened. 2005 saw the very exciting completion of our first on-resort hotel, The Shoreline at Bognor Regis, and after it's success our second hotel, the Ocean Hotel, was built in 2009. 2010s • Bognor Regis welcomed it's third hotel, The Wave Hotel in 2012, and a new swimming complex is built at Skegness in 2013.

The following year, a new break designed Just For Tots is launched and Butlin's partners with Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Last year our West Lakes chalet village in Minehead was opened, as well as our new Seaside Apartments in Skegness. New breaks such as the Astonishing Family Science Weekend, Horrible Histories and Diversity were introduced. Skegness Skegness Skegness Sections Skegness - Your Memories | Skegness Over The Years | Skegness Postcards | Skegness Photos | Skegness Maps | Skegness Brochures & Entertainment Guides | Multimap Aerial View The camp which started it all, Skegness was the first venture by Billy Butlin into the new and uncharted waters of British holiday camps. Sitting on 200 acres of a former turnip field, the camp has deservedly earned it's place in the hearts and minds of British holiday folklore. Construction began in September 1935 and work progressed throughout the harsh winter. Many problems were encountered, including a distinct lack of funds at one point. Butlin designed the camp himself with many of his sketches and ideas appearing on the backs of cigarette packets.

He said "my plans were for 1,000 people in 600 chalets with electricity, running water, 250 bathrooms, dining and recreational halls. A theatre, a gymnasium, a rhododendron bordered swimming pool with cascades at both ends and a boating lake. In landscaped grounds, there were to be tennis courts, bowling and putting greens and cricket pitches". The camp opened it's doors on 11th April 1936 and was an immediate success, despite many early teething troubles. This was to be a luxury camp, at prices that working people could afford. Three meals a day, and free entertainment from 35 shillings a week (£1.75). The capacity was increased from 500 to around 1,200 during the first season, and at the end of the year another £40,000 was invested to build a dining room, theatre and gymnasium and to increase the capacity to 2,000. The camp eventually went on to accommodate close to 10,000 holiday makers.

On the outbreak of war in 1939 the campers were immediately sent home and the site was taken over by the Royal Navy. The camp became a training establishment and was known as HMS Royal Arthur. The beer garden became the sick bay, the Fortune Teller's Parlour was the dentist's office and the Viennese Dance Hall became the armoury with stacks of rifles. Air raid shelters occupied the former rose gardens and the brightly coloured paintwork disappeared under a dull military scheme. However the camp was respected and looked after by the Navy, despite constant attacks from the Luftwaffe - some 52 bombs landed on it! At the end of the war the site was handed back to Butlin's and work soon commenced on bringing the camp back into life as a holiday resort. It reopened on 11th May 1946, only 6 weeks after leaving the Navy's ownership. In 1948 Billy Butlin opened his own airport next door which dealt with passenger and freight charters, along with local pleasure and sightseeing trips.

A hotel (the Ingoldmells Hotel) and a theatre (the Butlin Theatre, later renamed the Gaiety) were also built adjacent to the main road and were both open to holidaymakers and the general public alike. The chairlift was opened in 1962 and ran from the south side of the camp right up to the north, it was the longest in the Butlin's empire. The first commercial monorail in the UK opened here in 1965. Also in 1962, Ringo Starr and his group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, arrived to play the summer season at Skegness after two successful years at Pwllheli. During that summer John Lennon and Paul McCartney visited the Skegness camp and met with Ringo to discuss future possibilities. This eventually led to a request to join their band, conveyed in a phone call to the camp from Lennon on Tuesday 14th August. Despite having two weeks left on his contract, Ringo gave his group three days notice and on 18th August 1962 sat down behind the drum-kit of the Beatles. On that night the Fab Four were born.

The camp continued to prosper and in 1987 benefitted from a £14 million investment and improvement scheme, including a change of name to Funcoast World. It was refurbished again in 1999 which included the construction of over 1,000 brand new apartments including some very attractive 'New England' style buildings. The centre now has 7,500 beds and employs 300 full time and 1,000 seasonal staff. It also has its own caravan park which contains over 500 privately owned static vans. One of the original 1936 chalets is now preserved as a Grade 2 listed building. The centre looks set for a long and secure future. Additional information can be found in our section Skegness over the years If you have any further information or images of the Skegness camp then please e-mail contact@butlins-memories.com Learn and talk about Butlins, 1936 establishments in England, Butlins, Companies based in Hertfordshire, Companies established in 1936 .com Butlins (also Butlin's) is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom.

Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and one in the Bahamas . In the 1970s and 1980s, Butlins also operated numerous large hotels, including one in Spain, a number of smaller holiday parks in England and France, and a revolving restaurant in the Post Office Tower in London. [2] Tough competition from overseas package holiday operators, rising operational costs, and rapidly changing demand, forced many of the Butlins operations to close in the 1980s and 1990s. Three of the original camps remain open under the Butlins brand in Bognor Regis , Minehead , and Skegness . They are now owned and run by Butlins Skyline Ltd, a subsidiary company of Bourne Leisure Ltd , which also operates other leisure brands in the British Isles, including Warner Leisure Hotels and Haven Holidays . Butlins runs a variety of "family fun activities" and entertainments, many of which are included in the price of a holiday.

Redcoats provide entertainment, organise activities, and act as hosts. The architecture seen in this 1985 photograph of Butlins in Ayr was typical of most camps before refurbishment. Note the rows of chalets in the distance. Contents ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) Billy Butlin's inspiration for his holiday camp empire came from an unhappy holiday on Barry Island in his youth, when he had been locked out of his bed and breakfast accommodation all day by his landlady , which was normal practice at the time. [3] The first of the Butlins holiday camps was opened by Billy Butlin in 1936 in Skegness , following his success in developing amusement parks. A second camp quickly followed in Clacton (1938), and construction Filey Holiday Camp began in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War , building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use. Wartime use of Butlins camps continued, with resorts at Ayr , Filey, and Pwllheli being completed and opened as military camps.

This camp was later renamed Wonderwest World, and is now owned and run by Haven , part of Bourne Leisure , who own both brands. In 1945, with the war over, Filey was re-opened as a holiday camp. The camps at Skegness & Clacton opened in 1946, Ayr and Pwllheli in 1947 and Mosney on the east coast of Ireland in 1948. Butlins became popular in post-war Britain, with family entertainment and activities available for the equivalent of a week's pay. In 1948 Billy Butlin acquired two hotels in the Bahamas, and in the 1950s Butlins began opening hotels in England and Wales: Saltdean , Brighton (1953), Blackpool (1955) and five in Cliftonville (1955–1956). Further post-war camps were opened in the 1960s at Bognor Regis (1960), Minehead (1962) and Barry Island (1966).

The camps at Ayr and Skegness also had separate self-contained hotels within their grounds. In later years, they were joined by further hotels in Scarborough (1978), Llandudno (1981), London (1993), a sixth hotel at Cliftonville and one in Spain (1983). In the 1960s and 1970s, the company also operated the Top of the Tower revolving restaurant at the then-named Post Office Tower in London. In 1968 Billy Butlin's son Bobby took over the management of Butlins, and in 1972 the business was sold to the Rank Organisation for £43 million. The number of camps peaked at ten between 1966 and 1980, but the business experienced the problems of the British seaside holiday industry in general, with the introduction of cheap package holidays to Mediterranean resorts from the 1960s onwards. It also had a specific image problem of being seen as providing regimented holidays, which caused it to all but abandon the Butlins name at its remaining resorts between 1987 and 1990.

The camps at Clacton and Filey closed in 1983, and the camp at Barry was sold in 1986 (eventually closing in 1996). The lease on the Top of the Tower restaurant expired in 1980. In 1998 the camps at Ayr and Pwllheli were re-branded as Haven Park. All the Butlins hotels of the 1950s to 1990s were sold in 1998, but most are still open today under different ownership. The art deco style Ocean Hotel at Saltdean has been redeveloped into apartments, and the hotels at Cliftonville have both been demolished. In April 1998 the "Holiday Worlds" branding was dropped for the remaining resorts in favour of returning the emphasis to the core Butlins name. Subsequently in September 2000, [4] the resorts and brand were sold to Bourne Leisure. A new Butlins logo was also introduced in mid-1998, which has subsequently undergone several modifications and was used until 2011, when Butlins introduced a design similar to their original logo.

The new logo was originally supposed to be only used temporarily to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Butlins, but its use continued into 2012 and 2013 and is now the official logo. In 2005, the new £10 million Shoreline hotel was unveiled at the Bognor Regis resort to expand on the existing variety of apartments on the site. The hotel, styled with an Art Deco theme, aimed to offer luxury accommodation in conjunction with the entertainment and facilities at the resort. Each of the 160 rooms features floor-to-ceiling windows, twin or king-size beds, leatherette chairs, televisions, DVD players and en-suite facilities . Some have sea views. A second hotel, called "Ocean Hotel" opened at Bognor in 2009 styled to a high contemporary standard.

A brief history of British Holiday Camps Butlins | Pontins | Warners | Other Camps British Holiday Camps: A Brief History Including a selection of old period adverts Also see our pages on Pontins and Warners When Billy Butlin opened his first site at Skegness in 1936 a number of other camps were already in existence offering similar chalet accommodation, meals and entertainment. He didn't invent the holiday camp idea but simply took it to a much higher level. The Skegness camp offered more than anything ever attempted before and the immense scope of entertainment and attractions, along with the high-class interior features of many of the public buildings, was way larger and more impressive than anything ever seen in Britain. This huge "mega-camp" tradition was continued with all subsequent Butlin sites and the company never had any direct competitors who could offer the same vast range of entertainment. They really were in a league of their own. The first holiday camp had actually been in business for over 40 years when Skegness opened. Cunningham Young Men's Holiday Camp had opened in the Isle of Man in 1894 and by 1908 had acquired all the familiar characteristics of the later camps.

Campers (men only) stayed in row upon row of candle-lit tents and facilities included a heated indoor swimming pool, a selection of shops, a huge dining hall, bank and concert hall. It even had it's own miniature castle which housed the toilets and washrooms! Campers were encouraged to take part in all kinds of activities including sing-songs and team games. Advertised as "The largest most popular holiday resort in the world" the camp remained open until just after the second world war. Turning to England the first major camp was at Caister in Norfolk which opened just after the turn of the century. Others soon appeared nearby and this stretch of coast soon became swamped with an assortment of camps (at one point there were 14 within a ten mile radius). One of these early pioneers was the Potters Camp which first opened in 1924 (later moving to a new site in 1930). Upon opening it could boast of such luxuries as "brick chalets with running water, electric light and modern toilet facilities....a brick sun-lounge, lavishly furnished with expensive carpets and modern easy chairs". This highly regarded camp is still open today.

Another local entrepreneur was 'Maddy' Maddieson who opened a nearby camp at Hemsby, shortly followed by a second near New Romney in Kent. Turning to North Wales we see the appearance of the Golden Sands camp at Rhyl. Opened in 1933 the 20 acre site consisted of tents, chalets and a vast central pavilion housing the dining room and entertainments. Another opened on the other side of town shortly after, known as the Robin Hood Camp - both are still open today. Several camps even opened at inland locations including such sites as the Robinson Crusoe camp in Berkshire which boasted of chalets built high up into the trees! After the success of these early commercial operations, a number of non-profit cooperative camps were established by various trade union groups. The first was the Roseland Summer Camp at Rothesay in Scotland. Opening in 1911 this camp lasted right through until 1974. Another was the Coventry Cooperative camp at Voryd in Rhyl which also lasted well into the 1970s.

Another organisation was the 'Civil Service Holiday Camps' which opened it's first site at Corton in 1924 and it's second at Hayling Island in 1930. The NALGO union also became involved with the opening of a camp at Croyde Bay in Devon (1931) followed soon after by a much larger site at Cayton Bay near Scarborough. Both boasted of "waterproof" chalets along with recreation rooms, concert halls, swimming pools and a whole host of daytime and evening activities. Cayton was sold in 1976 but Croyde Bay is still thriving and now owned by UINSON. All this activity therefore happened before the first Butlins camp had even been built. There were many others too numerous to mention but the basic concept and idea had been pretty well developed by the time Billy Butlin became involved. After the war the holiday camp boom reached new heights (helped somewhat by the cheap availability of old wartime military bases) and a couple of other entrepreneurs soon became household names, Harry Warner and Fred Pontin. In fact Warner had opened his first camp in 1931, some five years before Butlin entered the scene.

Pontin got started in 1946. Additional info on both companies can be found in our relevant Pontins and Warners pages. By the early 1960s there was a total of around 100 registered holiday camps in the UK. However Butlins were still the market leader and the total attendance of all the other camps combined didn't even come close to the one million plus holiday makers that headed to Butlins every year. The industry saw some major changes throughout the '70s and '80s and many of the old camps disappeared. But an interesting fact is that most of today's survivors can trace their origins back to those early pioneers. Most are unrecognisable today and caravans have replaced many, if not all, of the old chalets. We're always interested in receiving scans of photos or postcards (old or new) from any UK holiday camp for future use on this website Below are a couple of postcards dated 1952 showing the Prestatyn Holiday Camp which was designed and built by the LMS Railway & Thomas Cook in 1939.

Noted for its wonderful architecture the camp was later sold to Pontins and renamed 'Tower Beach' but was eventually closed in the 1980s. Butlins: Fascinating story of the iconic British holiday company from 1936 to today... - Mirror Online Butlins: Fascinating story of the iconic British holiday company from 1936 to today... 00:02, 30 Apr 2011 Buoyant Butlins is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. Share Get daily news by email Butlins Buoyant Butlins is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. To say the nation’s favourite holiday park has changed since it opened in 1936 is an understatement. Back then it was canteen dining and modest chalets... today it’s all about high-class hotels, soothing spas, fine wine and a celebrity chef restaurant. It was in 1928 that William Heygate Edmund Colborne “Billy” Butlin became the first person to introduce dodgems to the UK at his fairground in Skegness, Lincolnshire.

As his funfair empire expanded he decided to attract more business by providing accommodation on the site. And Butlins was born. Now, 75 years on, it has three modern coastal resorts and is owned by multi-million pound group Bourne Leisure. This is the story of Butlins... 1936: Butlins’ first holiday camp opens at Skegness on April 11 – it costs £100,000 to build. With a capacity of 1,000 guests, it is officially opened by aviator Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Freda Monk, from Nottingham, is the first Butlins ‘camper’ and Norman Bradford is the first Redcoat. A week’s holiday, between July and September, cost £2.12s.6d per adult and £1.6s.3d per child. That equates to around £133 and £66.50 respectively today. 1937: Shares in Butlins sell out in five minutes when they go on public sale. 1938: The Holiday with Pay Act is passed, something Billy Butlin campaigned for.

One of his slogans was “A week’s holiday for a week’s pay”. 1939: At the outbreak of WW2 Billy Butlin is made director general of hostels for the Ministry of Supply. Filey, Yorkshire, is planned and built by arrangement with the Government as a service camp for the RAF. Similar arrangements are made for Pwllheli, North Wales, and Ayr, Scotland, while Clacton, Essex, becomes an Army camp. Skegness becomes HMS Royal Arthur and German propagandist Lord Haw Haw proclaims it had been destroyed with the loss of all hands and was a blow to the Navy. However, the British knew HMS Royal Arthur was really a Butlins camp. A young Philip Mountbatten, by then The Duke of Edinburgh, joined up at Pwllheli when it was known as HMS Glendower. 1940: Nicholas, a Polar bear at Skegness, is moved to Chester Zoo during the war. He joins four leopards also evacuated by Butlins. Billy Butlin offers to pay for Nicholas’s food for the duration of the war.

1941: HMS Scotia is built in Ayr for the Admiralty to a design suggested by Billy, with the aim of simple conversion to a holiday camp. 1942: Butlins donates hundreds of tonnes of metal to the Ministry of Works scrap metal campaign to aid the growing war need. Dodgems and roundabouts are given up. 1943: Plans are put forward to build a new station to serve the Ayr site. 1944: Billy Butlin is awarded an MBE. 1945: The Filey site is partly de-requisitioned and opened for holidays. 1946: Radio Butlins starts the popular ‘Wakey Wakey’ call. Fred Pontin copies the successful concept, snapping up a derelict military camp site in Brean Sands, Somerset, and so begins a genial rivalry. 1947: Laurel and Hardy play a week at the Skegness Gaiety theatre. The sites at Skegness, Clacton, Pwllheli and Ayr are de-requisitioned and opened. The Butlins nursery service is formed.

Butlins now has five sites with capacity for more than 30,000 people. 1948: Mosney, Ireland, opens and Billy also acquires two hotels in The Bahamas. 1949: Billy is unwittingly photographed having a drink at Pontins in Brean Sands, Somerset, as he checks out the competition. The picture is used in a Pontins’ brochure with the slogan “All the best people come to Pontins.” Billy is furious. 1950: More than 400 oil paintings bought in the war at no more than 50 guineas each are exhibited in the new quiet lounges on the resorts. By 1982 the collection is worth £5m. 1951: Butlins Bahamas closes and Billy has to admit defeat over it. 1952: Billy sets his sights on UK expansion by purchasing a site at Saltdean, Sussex. 1953: Saltdean’s Ocean Hotel opens. It becomes popular with honeymooners and Billy goes on to say the hotel was one of the best investments he’d ever made.

The Ocean Hotel at Bognor Regis, Sussex, opened in 2009 – named in honour of the site at Saltdean. 1954: Jimmy Tarbuck becomes a Redcoat in Pwllheli. He is joined by other future stars who began as Redcoats, including Des O’Connor, Ted Rogers and Johnny Ball. 1955: Butlins acquires four hotels in Cliftonville, Kent. It is here that Billy sees the benefits of indoor swimming pools with viewing windows, which he later installs at his parks. First Glamorous Granny contest is held. 1956: First Miss She contest is conducted. 1957: Charlie the elephant is moved from Ayr to Filey. 1958: Cliff Richard performs at Clacton. Billy opens a Chinese kitchen in every Butlins with a simple menu of chicken chop suey and chips. 1959: Billy appears on ‘This is Your Life’ – it’s also his wedding day.

1960: Ringo Starr, with his group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, has a 13-week engagement with Butlins.Bognor Regis opens, costing £2.5m, and attracting 3,000 guests a week. 1961: Continental Holidays Agency is opened. 1962: Minehead resort in Somerset opens. Billy begins acquiring steam locomotives from national railways, using them as static attractions. 1963: The Duke of Edinburgh returns to Pwllheli on a royal visit with the Queen in August. One million people visit Butlins this year. 1964: Billy is knighted. 1965: The first commercial monorail system in the UK opens at Skegness as a pleasure ride. It is built using 320 tonnes of steel with 160 supports, and runs 16ft above ground, travelling at 15mph. Francis Rossi, with his band The Spectres, and Rick Parfitt, with his band The Highlights, meet at Minehead while playing summer seasons. They decide to work together in the future. Status Quo is born.

1966: Sir Billy donates £100,000 to set up a trust to help support injured police officers. With public support the fund grows firstly to £250,000 and eventually to more than £1m. The trust still supports officers today. The Post Office Tower in London is officially opened by Sir Billy and Barry Island resort in South Wales opens. 1967: Butlins pin badges are discontinued. It is believed that more than 1,700 different styles were created. The idea is reintroduced in 2004. 1968: Sir Billy retires. His son, Robert (Bobby) Butlin becomes chairman and MD. 1969: Butlins’ first self-catering accommodation starts. 1970: The firm introduces slogan, “Butlinland is Freedomland”. 1971: A major refurbishment starts at many of the resorts. 1972: A record one million bookings is achieved. Butlins is sold to the Rank Organisation for £43m.

1973: Resorts open at Sunshine, Hayling Island, Hampshire; Seaview, Dorset; and Tencreek, Cornwall. 1974: Ayrville, Cornwall, resort is purchased. Boating holidays start on the Norfolk Broads. 1975: Two Chimneys opens in Penzance, Cornwall. 1976: A record trading profit. Freshfields is introduced as the brand name for the Cornish resorts. 1977: Beaver Fleet boat yard, Agen, France, is purchased. 1978: Butlins acquires The Grand Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The hotel design is rumoured to be based on the theme of time – four towers representing the seasons, 12 floors representing months, 52 chimneys representing the weeks, and 365 bedrooms to represent the days of the year. 1979: Last “Wakey Wakey” is broadcast on the tannoy. Freshfields extends to France. Site built at Doniford, Somerset. 1980: Sir Billy dies on June 12. He is buried in the cemetery of St John’s Church, Jersey.

His headstone is engraved with a camp scene and the Jolly Fisherman from the Skegness railway poster bearing the slogan “Skegness is so bracing”. 1981: Acquisition of the Grand Hotel, Llandudno, North Wales. Built in 1901, it was the largest hotel in Wales. It was sold in 1998. A £2m development takes place at Minehead. 1982: Mosney facility is sold. Brand new fun pools and chalets are built at Bognor Regis and Minehead sites. Clacton and Filey locations close. 1983: Butlins acquires Spain’s El Griego Hotel in Torremolinos.The hotel has many of Butlins’ features, including British food and, of course, the Redcoats. 1984: Clacton and Filey are sold. 1985: Bobby Butlin retires. 1986: £10m invested at Minehead, which is renamed Somerwest World, including Sunsplash Waterworld. Barry closes. A £30m investment takes place in Bognor Regis and Skegness.

1987: Butlins Bognor Regis renamed Southcoast World and Skegness renamed Funcoast World. Both return to original names 10 years later. 1988: A £12m investment at Ayr, renamed Wonderwest World. Designer Zandra Rhodes creates a new look for the Redcoats. 1989: The final year for Miss Lovely Legs contest. Investment programme starts at the hotels. 1990: Pwllheli renamed Starcoast World and £27m is invested. Status Quo kick off their 25th anniversary tour at Minehead. 1991: Butlins introduces “Number 1 for Family Fun” as new slogan. 1992: New premier style accommodation is introduced. 1993: Butlins website goes live. 1994: Grand Hotel in Bayswater, London, opens. It is sold five years later for £16.5m. 1995: Reds TV is launched. 1996: Parkworld Holidays manages Butlins and Haven. Butlins celebrates 60 years.

1997: Last year for Glamorous Grandmother and the Holiday Princess contests. 1998: More than 3,000 hopefuls apply to be a Redcoat, arriving at the London Hippodrome for live auditions. A £75m investment in upgrading Minehead, Bognor Regis and Skegness. Ayr and Pwllheli transfer to Haven in October. Jeff Banks, from the BBC’s Clothes Show, revamps the Redcoat uniform. 1999: Family Entertainment Resorts launched at Minehead, Bognor Regis and Skegness.Butlins sets up the Redcoat Academy of Excellence, the UK’s first showbiz ‘university’. Hotels at Brighton, Margate, Blackpool, Llandudno, London and Scarborough are sold. 2000: Bourne Leisure acquires Butlins. First arena concerts at Minehead – stars including Ronan Keating and Blue perform live to audiences of more than 5,000. 2001: Bourne Leisure begins to reinvigorate the Butlins brand after closing the Cliftonville and Saltdean resorts.

New slogan “Come to Life, Come to Butlins” is introduced. 2002: Gold accommodation is introduced – spacious rooms with widescreen TVs. 2003: Cuddly character Billy Bear introduced. 2004: Skegness launches an adult-only spa facility offering sauna, steam room, gym and beauty treatments. Minehead opens the Ex-more Experience with activities including horse riding, coasteering, scuba diving and mountain bike rides. The UK’s largest extreme sports festival, Windfest 2004, is at Skegness. 2005: Shoreline Hotel at Bognor Regis opens in August. A three year partnership with Hit Entertainment starts, bringing Bob the Builder to the resorts. 2006: Butlins celebrates its 70th birthday. The launch of Butlins Wedding Service makes it the first UK holiday centre to offer a marriage ceremony. 2007: BlueSkies apartments launch in Minehead, with the most luxurious accommodation Butlins has ever offered, at a cost of £4.5m. 2008: Butlins signs 125-year lease at Bognor Regis.

It announces a partnership with the Princess Royal Trust for Carers as their designated charity. 2009: Ocean Hotel and Spa, costing £20m, opens at Bognor Regis. It has 200 rooms and a spa that boasts one of only two snow caves in the UK. There is a £28m investment in the three resorts including the building of the Ocean Hotel and upgrading accommodation and facilities. 2010: A 220-seat dress circle is built in Centre Stage venue at Skegness. Plans submitted for third hotel and new concept family restaurant at Bognor Regis. Butlins starts to sell fine wines and champagne. 2011: Butlins celebrates its 75th birthday and announces new-look retro Redcoat uniforms inspired by the original 1936 design. Turner’s restaurant, a partnership with celebrity chef Brian Turner, opens at Bognor Regis on April 15. Happy 75th birthday, Butlins, from the Daily Mirror.

With grateful thanks to Butlins' archivists and Launch Group Holiday Camp Bonanza in 1936 Holiday Camp Bonanza in 1936 The rapid growth of British Holidays Badge Collectors love holiday camp badges, happy memories, sunny designs and pure nostalgia. The initial growth spurt of British holiday camps in the 1930s was only temporarily halted by the Second World War. It was the Annual Holiday Bill in 1936 (November) that meant thousands of workers could at last enjoy a weeks holiday with pay. Entreprenuers, realising that this bill was on the way began to establish Holiday Camps all around the coast of Britain. The Daily Herald Newspaper of June 9th 1936 on page 17 included a large advert for various holiday camps-many known well to badge collectors. It is also pertinent that among the host of camps advertised there is no mention of Butlins.

This is most likely because the Butlins camp was fully booked and there was no need to advertise – Billy Butlin had already done his advertising-earlier in the year he had spent £500 on a half page advert in the Daily Express offering holidays at his camp for 35/- to £3 for a week depending on the time of the season. This price did include four meals a day and free entertainment. Within days there were 10,000 enquiries and very quickly firm bookings. The Daily Herald advert is then partly explained as other entrepreneurs attempted to copy the Butlin method (and other early camp pioneers) which clearly was having great effect right from the start in early 1936. Billy Butlin had been involved in the setting up of Warner camp at Seaton in 1935 and used the same workers to build his own camp at Skegness. He had purchased 40 acres just outside Skegness (at £100 per acre) and took men off his amusement site in the town of Skegness to help build the camp.

Easter Saturday 1936 saw the opening of the first Butlins camp –the first camper Freda Monk (from Nottingham) arrived a day early and was found wandering around the half built campsite looking for water. She was given sustinence and a chalet, the following day other campers arrived –although the numbers were down because one party had gone to Sheerness instead of Skegness! Billy Butlin bought a pair of old Austin Seven vans which he painted with bright colours and numbered them 2 & 9 –so as to appear part of a bigger fleet! For many campers the basic chalet accommodation was an improvement on their actual living conditions. The last few years have seen more Brits holidaying in the UK but it is hard to imagine a return to the spirit of 1936.The two pages of advertisments in this newspaper illustrate that Butlins was not the only mover and shaker in the business-simply the most successful. It also illustrates how rapidly others followed the Butlins philosophy. Badges from the smaller and rarer camps can still be found for a reasonable price but have become more sought after.

Please note those badges illustrated at the top of this blog are not necessarily pre-war issues, although many of the camps they represent cearly were establ;shed in that period. About the author Frank Setchfield is the author of The Official Badge Collectors Guide from the 1890s to the 1980s and has written countless articles on badges for various publications. Butlins holiday camp Skegness 1946 from the Badge Collectors Circle Archive Butlins holiday camp Skegness 1946 0/5 (0 votes cast) 1216 views Butlins Skegness was the first Butlins holiday camp to be opened in 1936 when Freda Monk of Nottingham arrived at Skegness as Butlin's first-ever camper, she was given a badge. In 1946 the shortage of time and metal meant that button badges werte issued instead of enamelled badges -they can be found for Clacton Filey and Skegness Type: Button Badge D pin metal ring Year:

Question: Where was the first Butlin's holiday camp opened in 1936?
Answer: Skegness